Iowa Court Voids Gay Marriage Ban — DES MOINES — Iowa became the first state in the Midwest to approve same-sex marriage on Friday, after the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously decided that a 1998 law limiting marriage to a man and a woman was unconstitutional.

King warns of ‘gay marriage Mecca’ — Western Iowa Rep. Steve King: — This is an unconstitutional ruling and another example of activist judges molding the Constitution to achieve their personal political ends. Iowa law says that marriage is between one man and one woman.

Inside Obama's bank CEOs meeting — The bankers struggled to make themselves clear to the president of the United States. — Arrayed around a long mahogany table in the White House state dining room last week, the CEOs of the most powerful financial institutions in the world offered several explanations …

Obama to Bankers: I'm Standing ‘Between You and the Pitchforks’ — ABC News' Matthew Jaffe reports: When President Obama welcomed the chief executives from 13 of the nation's biggest banks to the White House last Friday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs billed it as a “good, productive, and frank” conversation.

Todd Palin's half-sister arrested for burglary — From Zaz Hollander in Wasilla: — Todd Palin's half-sister was arrested Thursday after police say she broke into a Wasilla home for the second time this week to steal money. — Palin is the husband of Gov. Sarah Palin. He declined comment.

Levi Johnston Breaks His Silence — For the first time, Levi Johnston, the former fiancé of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, breaks his silence and sits down exclusively with the “Tyra Show.” — Levi talks about his relationship with Bristol, what it was like to be thrust …

Gunman barricaded back door, police say — (CNN) — A gunman barricaded the back door of a Binghamton, New York, immigration services center with a car and burst through the front door on a shooting rampage, killing 13 people and then, apparently, himself, police said Friday.

Question that flummoxed great orator — Barack Obama, the World's Greatest Orator (™all news organisations), didn't exactly cover himself in glory when the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson asked him a question about who was to blame for the financial crisis.

It's a Depression — The March employment numbers, out this morning, are bleak: 8.5 percent of Americans officially unemployed, 663,000 more jobs lost. But if you include people who are out of work and have given up trying to find a job, the real unemployment rate is 9 percent.

‘Holy Hell’ Over Torture Memos — Attorney General Eric Holder wants to release classified Bush-era interrogation memos. But U.S. intel officials are fiercely lobbying the White House to block him from moving forward. — A fierce internal battle within the White House over the disclosure …

I Have Smoked Pot and Don't Really Care for It — Will Wilkinson has a good essay on marijuana in The Week: … For my part, I'll say that my name is Matthew Yglesias. I have smoked marijuana in the past, and enjoyed it on occasion, but mostly I haven't really liked it so I don't expect I'll smoke any more in the future.

THE STRANGE CASE OF EVAN BAYH. — Ben Nelson genuinely is a conservative Democrat. The Poole-Rosenthal rankings — which most consider the leading measure of a congressman's relative ideology — have, for years, ranked Nelson as the most conservative member of the Congress. Call him Democrat #1.

Michelle Obama, Carla Bruni ‘smackdown’ — “The first ladies fashion smackdown.” — That's what MSNBC was calling the public appearance of Michelle Obama, first lady of the United States, and Carla Bruni, first lady of France, today in Strasbourg, France. — They both wore bows.

Obama's $163,000 Tax Bomb — Families well below the president's ‘no-tax’ threshold will get a six-figure bill. — The House and Senate are preparing to pass President Barack Obama's radical budget blueprint, with only minor modifications, by using (abusing would be more accurate) the budget “reconciliation” process.

It's 77,225 apiece: Murphy, Tedisco now in a dead heat — 20TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT — As counties continue a routine recount of voting machine results, the two candidates in the 20th Congressional District race are locked in a dead heat. — James Tedisco and Scott Murphy have 77,225 votes each …

McCain Rebukes Hispanic Voters — STUNG OVER THE VOTING BLOC'S 2-TO-1 SUPPORT OF OBAMA IN NOVEMBER, THE SENATOR SAYS TO LOOK TO THE NEW PRESIDENT FOR IMMIGRATION LEADERSHIP. — John McCain sounds angry and frustrated that, despite the risks he took in pushing immigration reform …

Reporters' hair irks Boehner — (CNN) — House Republican Leader John Boehner is known for regularly poking fun at reporters about their hairstyles. But at his weekly press conference on Thursday he couldn't contain himself. — As he launched into his regular refrain about the Democrats' budget …

Obama's Ultimate Agenda — Five minutes of explanation to James Madison, and he'll have a pretty good idea what a motorcar is (basically a steamboat on wheels; the internal combustion engine might take a few minutes more). Then try to explain to Madison how the Constitution he fathered allows …

Obama-era goodwill for Rice at U.N. — NEW YORK — It is, says Susan Rice, “a good time to be American Ambassador to the United Nations.” — Rice, a foreign policy veteran at the age of 44, is positioned to be one of the administration's key national security voices.

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